Ok, you may have noticed that my poll this week is about New Year's resolutions. My answer is yes, I have resolutions pertaining to emergency preparation, and I will share one with you that was prompted by my internet friend, Carl in Wisconsin. (If you are not in the habit of reading comments on blogs, I would highly recommend doing so. They can be an absolute treasure trove of ideas and information.) I hope that he does not mind my reproducing part of his comment (found under my post about timing) here:
If I may suggest a topic for you, if you haven't covered this already,. Inventory Records, how does every one keep them if at all, what do they keep and where do they keep them. I start a physical inventory in December every year ( since there is little else to do here in the Winter). It takes me until February to do it. I do a lttle every day.
It's a great idea for a post, but... insert uncomfortable, awkward clearing of the throat here...I don't really keep inventory. One of my main goals has been to amass what I could when I could afford it, and to be honest, the basic thought process has been, "I think we need more...more...yeah, a little more...oh, what if family member/friend/neighbor/someone else needs something...better get a little more..." --I think that you get the idea. Soooo, I've been stacking food on shelves as we have obtained it to store in suitable amounts in the bargain-priced buckets we were able to purchase, and occasionally paying visits to the store room to make a withdrawal, and (true confessions) to get the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with seeing that yes, we have made progress. All well and good, until my husband was able to use some of those bargain-price buckets as part of his gift to me, (yeah, he's pretty great) and suddenly it doesn't look like we have that much in storage anymore. Bags piled on a shelf look a lot more impressive than a single white five or six gallon bucket.
I know that the same amount is still there, but I realize that I don't know how much is there, really, and what would be the best thing to put on the storage list next. So, one of my resolutions is to figure out the inventory that we have so that we can better maximize our efficiency when it comes to food storage supplies. So, to borrow phrasing from Chris over at Johnson Family Farm, I am going to make this declaration:
I declare that I am going to figure out how to do an efficient inventory and make an inventory of what I have so that we can better manage our food storage.
Thanks, Carl, for the idea, and thanks, Chris, for the idea of declarations. After all, warm fuzzies and information is much better than warm fuzzies alone.... Happy New Year, everyone!!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Well, here's trying...etc.
The Idaho Preppers Network website now exists and there is a link to the right--we'll see how it turns out. If you are in Idaho and would like to have your website linked on the Idaho Preppers Network site, let me know. I know there are people out here in Idaho who are more qualified in emergency preparedness than I am--if you are willing to share your expertise, we would love to learn from you.
I hope that everyone had a marvelous Christmas. We had tons upon tons of snow, and that really feels like only a slight exaggeration from where I sit. (Inside, where it's warm, of course... :) I'm glad that we didn't travel, for various reasons. In terms of preparation, however, we are a little bit better prepared for emergencies than we were last week, and here's why:
a)My husband asked for, and got, an emergency flashlight for Christmas. We started out all right in the emergency lighting area after we moved in, but our levels had gone down through the years to the point that the flashlights that we could still find were not in working order. I read and/or heard somewhere that you should have emergency lighting available in every room, so that is our goal. We have non-battery sources of lighting down in our store room, but realistically they would be a lot more difficult to find and/or deal with in the direct aftermath of a power outage--i.e. it would be a lot easier to find the candles downstairs if we had a flashlight to guide us to their location in the first place. Working on the lighting situation, but it has improved.
b)More of my emergency food supplies have found a new home in appropriate food storage containers--yay for buckets! However, now that we have more food in buckets, it is easier to see that we need more food-filled buckets to meet our goals for emergency preparedness. Slow but sure.... :)
So it's all good. A step at a time, and it gets better and better. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!
I hope that everyone had a marvelous Christmas. We had tons upon tons of snow, and that really feels like only a slight exaggeration from where I sit. (Inside, where it's warm, of course... :) I'm glad that we didn't travel, for various reasons. In terms of preparation, however, we are a little bit better prepared for emergencies than we were last week, and here's why:
a)My husband asked for, and got, an emergency flashlight for Christmas. We started out all right in the emergency lighting area after we moved in, but our levels had gone down through the years to the point that the flashlights that we could still find were not in working order. I read and/or heard somewhere that you should have emergency lighting available in every room, so that is our goal. We have non-battery sources of lighting down in our store room, but realistically they would be a lot more difficult to find and/or deal with in the direct aftermath of a power outage--i.e. it would be a lot easier to find the candles downstairs if we had a flashlight to guide us to their location in the first place. Working on the lighting situation, but it has improved.
b)More of my emergency food supplies have found a new home in appropriate food storage containers--yay for buckets! However, now that we have more food in buckets, it is easier to see that we need more food-filled buckets to meet our goals for emergency preparedness. Slow but sure.... :)
So it's all good. A step at a time, and it gets better and better. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The "neighbor plates"--the easy (food storage supply) way
I don't know if the same thing happens where you live, but around this time of year, the doorbell will ring occasionally and when you open the door you are given a plate of scrumptious goodness that you get to enjoy compliments of your neighbors' hard work and good will. Well, we delivered our plates around the neighborhood last night. Thing is, we used food storage recipes that we found compliments of our internet neighbors. To give credit where credit is due, my husband made the treats with the kids (hey, I found the recipes) and great fun was had by all.
We actually gave treats made from two recipes--the Chocolate Cereal Snack Mix over at Safely Gathered In, and the Extremely Easy Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe over at the Jacobus Family Blog Site. Yeah, you sure gotta hope that our neighbors like peanut butter--we do, and we just wanted to share the joy. We didn't have any of those nifty little bags like we have seen out and about and one of which we received this year--you know the kind, clear and shiny and filled with wonderful treats and tied with a bow. I didn't know where to find them, and sandwich bags didn't quite seem festive enough. So when we were out shopping, we got the holiday themed plates, and I saw cupcake papers, also with a holiday theme. We filled about 4 of those cupcake papers per plate with the cereal mix, (and we added the green and red M&Ms--probably wouldn't have those in storage, but they looked and tasted really good :) placed them on the plates, and put the pieces of peanut butter fudge in the remaining space. The plates were covered in plastic wrap and delivered promptly. We overestimated on the cereal mix, so have plenty to munch on for ourselves, but we didn't have enough for family consumption (except for taste-testing, naturally :) of the peanut butter fudge, so I wouldn't be surprised if another batch of that were forthcoming... I was very happy with the outcome of the whole venture, and am very grateful to my internet neighbors for supplying such wonderful ideas for gift-giving cheer--thank you!
Yes, you can make yummy goodies with food storage supplies. If you look on Safely Gathered In, they have their recipes available if you hit the link near the top of the page. On the Jacobus Family Blog Spot, (truly one of the best sources of food storage recipes I have found) you can link to the Friday's Food Fancy posts by clicking on the beautiful button to the right with that label. I highly recommend that you check those recipes out. I'm glad I did.
Oh, and even though I haven't asked my neighbors, I don't think in a million years that they would look at the plates we gave them and think "food storage". However, I do think there's a very good chance that the plates just screamed out, "festive". Either way, I do have a wish for my neighborhood neighbors and my internet neighbors: Merry Christmas!
We actually gave treats made from two recipes--the Chocolate Cereal Snack Mix over at Safely Gathered In, and the Extremely Easy Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe over at the Jacobus Family Blog Site. Yeah, you sure gotta hope that our neighbors like peanut butter--we do, and we just wanted to share the joy. We didn't have any of those nifty little bags like we have seen out and about and one of which we received this year--you know the kind, clear and shiny and filled with wonderful treats and tied with a bow. I didn't know where to find them, and sandwich bags didn't quite seem festive enough. So when we were out shopping, we got the holiday themed plates, and I saw cupcake papers, also with a holiday theme. We filled about 4 of those cupcake papers per plate with the cereal mix, (and we added the green and red M&Ms--probably wouldn't have those in storage, but they looked and tasted really good :) placed them on the plates, and put the pieces of peanut butter fudge in the remaining space. The plates were covered in plastic wrap and delivered promptly. We overestimated on the cereal mix, so have plenty to munch on for ourselves, but we didn't have enough for family consumption (except for taste-testing, naturally :) of the peanut butter fudge, so I wouldn't be surprised if another batch of that were forthcoming... I was very happy with the outcome of the whole venture, and am very grateful to my internet neighbors for supplying such wonderful ideas for gift-giving cheer--thank you!
Yes, you can make yummy goodies with food storage supplies. If you look on Safely Gathered In, they have their recipes available if you hit the link near the top of the page. On the Jacobus Family Blog Spot, (truly one of the best sources of food storage recipes I have found) you can link to the Friday's Food Fancy posts by clicking on the beautiful button to the right with that label. I highly recommend that you check those recipes out. I'm glad I did.
Oh, and even though I haven't asked my neighbors, I don't think in a million years that they would look at the plates we gave them and think "food storage". However, I do think there's a very good chance that the plates just screamed out, "festive". Either way, I do have a wish for my neighborhood neighbors and my internet neighbors: Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 22, 2008
That's usually a call to some sort of action
Not too long ago we were at a sports activity for one of our children. Sometime in the middle of said activity, the door in the back of the gym was opened, setting off an alarm that sounded to me like a fire alarm. Once the door was closed, the ringing stopped.
Now the gym was small enough that it was easy to see that there was no immediate need to grab your children and trample other people on your way out to sweet freedom. In fact, though I initially thought that the alarm was set off by a small child messing around in small child fashion, my husband later told me that someone did actually exit the building to activate the alarm. Thing is, everyone heard the alarm, everyone looked around to see that they wouldn't be personally affected, and everything went on as usual. No one did anything out of the ordinary, unless you want to count whoever tripped the alarm in the first place. Thing is, no one did anything at all. What's the problem, you say? After all, there was no actual emergency. And hey, nobody panicked, causing unnecessary pandemonium and havoc. In this situation, you would be right--it didn't hurt anyone to ignore the alarm bells. But (and I know you knew this was coming :) there are "alarm bells" sounding out in many ways that should usually be a call to action to us all to improve our emergency preparation and food storage. If we are not personally affected at the moment that they are ringing, we may be tempted to figuratively glance up, do nothing, and go back to what we were doing. Which alarms are you/I/we ignoring?
One of the things that has been bothering me is the closure of stores, a subject that I put into a poll not long ago. The poll and poll results were as follows:
How do you feel about the number of stores closing in the U.S.?
I think that it is good that people are becoming more frugal 47%
I'm worried about what it means for the economy 47%
I'm worried about what it means in terms of unemployment 47%
I'm already very frugal, so the stores closing will not really affect me 41%
I think that in the long run it will help the economy 17%
I don't like that it will restrict my choices 0%
Other 11%
I was pretty amazed at how evenly the percentages came out, and you can tell that I didn't vote on this particular poll, because no one chose that they don't like that it will restrict their choices, and I will explain why that particular poll choice is troubling to me in a bit. First, though, the fact that stores are closing is a huge red flag to me, even though at first glance that doesn't really personally affect me. I don't work in a store, and I don't shop all that much, so why don't I just go back to my non-retail, non-shopping activities? Well, when the stores close, people lose their jobs, leaving larger unemployment, and less money to spend in the stores where they get their items, which will affect those stores, who may have to cut the number of their employees, and/or close down--are you seeing the domino effect here? And the only way I can see of getting out of the tumble down line is to have my food storage and emergency preparation items so that I can remain standing and perhaps help others to remain standing as well. If I am not totally reliant on a store for the basic necessities, it does not have to affect me as hard if said store goes down. Make no mistake, however--it will affect me in some way. The bells that are ringing out an emergency for those who have lost their jobs or have fewer hours should be a warning for us as well--to get as prepared as possible while we still can, so we will be in the best possible situation we can be in when the bells get closer. Because they probably will. And if they don't? We'll be better able to help someone else up.
It may seem that I'm awfully self-absorbed when I say that I don't like the fact that the stores closing limit my choices, but the way that I think about it is actually something that would affect everyone. When you have fewer and fewer choices, you could end up with a monopoly situation, where one supplier has all the power, and therefore the option to make the prices what they want them to be--which I would think off the top of my head would not be an ideal situation for the rest of us. There is something to be said for "price wars", where stores actually compete for business, and where people still have options. I'm not talking about missing rampant consumerism--just thinking about some basic components of human nature that appear when those who have power exploit situations in ways that reap the highest benefits for them. Hopefully, monopolies won't happen, and if they do, those in charge won't exhibit such unfortunate human tendencies. Either way, the fact that stores are closing should set off alarm bells even if we aren't immediately personally affected, and if nothing else, we can improve our preparedness situations so that we will be better off when we are personally affected. We may not be able to stop a store from closing, but we can stop procrastinating our preparation.
Recently, we went out to dinner with a gift certificate we received. We went to a fairly popular family restaurant that is usually (at least when we have gone) packed with people. I was amazed, given the night of the week that it was, and the time that we arrived, at the ratio of customers/employees. Suffice it to say, business traffic did not look optimal. Same good food, same good service, just fewer people to enjoy it. At the end of the meal, my husband asked what the deal was with the slow traffic, and the server started talking about the economy. When you consider how much hourly a server makes, (my understanding is that it is very little) and how much tips figure into their wages, people not being able to afford to eat out becomes one of those dominoes. Again, going back to those alarm bells--if you take the attitude that you aren't personally affected because you don't go out to eat, and people eat out too much anyway, you may be missing the point--when the alarm bells ring, and scream out the necessity to get some food in storage, they are not only ringing for those in the food service industry. They are not only ringing for those in the retail industry. They are ringing out, just like they did in that gymnasium, for everyone present. You may not see how it concerns you just now, but believe me, it concerns you, and it concerns me, and it concerns anyone else you can think of, because we are all in this together. If you/I/we are among the fortunate who aren't in the midst of a crisis right now, you/I/we need to heed the alarms and get ready. To those who are reading this and are already having a crisis, I truly hope that things get better for you soon.
The closing of stores is one alarm bell going off that I can think of. A few others may be the continual rise of food prices, the foreclosure on farms, the seemingly shrinking availability of non-hybrid seeds, the state of the economy in general--how many alarm bells do we need? There are probably some that I am missing, but hopefully there is an alarm bell that will ring for each of us before it is too late to prepare. We won't all be able to prepare on the same scale, because we all have different economic means, but each of us can do something, even if it is only to put aside a very tiny bit at a time. We need to do the best we can when we hear the alarms ringing, and not just ignore what is going on---what was/will be your call to action?
And a second question--is there anyone out there that would be interested in an Idaho preppers network? Like I have mentioned before, there are more qualified people around, so it won't hurt my feelings if someone wants to start one up themselves. However, if there is interest, I could set up a page. Let me know.
Now the gym was small enough that it was easy to see that there was no immediate need to grab your children and trample other people on your way out to sweet freedom. In fact, though I initially thought that the alarm was set off by a small child messing around in small child fashion, my husband later told me that someone did actually exit the building to activate the alarm. Thing is, everyone heard the alarm, everyone looked around to see that they wouldn't be personally affected, and everything went on as usual. No one did anything out of the ordinary, unless you want to count whoever tripped the alarm in the first place. Thing is, no one did anything at all. What's the problem, you say? After all, there was no actual emergency. And hey, nobody panicked, causing unnecessary pandemonium and havoc. In this situation, you would be right--it didn't hurt anyone to ignore the alarm bells. But (and I know you knew this was coming :) there are "alarm bells" sounding out in many ways that should usually be a call to action to us all to improve our emergency preparation and food storage. If we are not personally affected at the moment that they are ringing, we may be tempted to figuratively glance up, do nothing, and go back to what we were doing. Which alarms are you/I/we ignoring?
One of the things that has been bothering me is the closure of stores, a subject that I put into a poll not long ago. The poll and poll results were as follows:
How do you feel about the number of stores closing in the U.S.?
I think that it is good that people are becoming more frugal 47%
I'm worried about what it means for the economy 47%
I'm worried about what it means in terms of unemployment 47%
I'm already very frugal, so the stores closing will not really affect me 41%
I think that in the long run it will help the economy 17%
I don't like that it will restrict my choices 0%
Other 11%
I was pretty amazed at how evenly the percentages came out, and you can tell that I didn't vote on this particular poll, because no one chose that they don't like that it will restrict their choices, and I will explain why that particular poll choice is troubling to me in a bit. First, though, the fact that stores are closing is a huge red flag to me, even though at first glance that doesn't really personally affect me. I don't work in a store, and I don't shop all that much, so why don't I just go back to my non-retail, non-shopping activities? Well, when the stores close, people lose their jobs, leaving larger unemployment, and less money to spend in the stores where they get their items, which will affect those stores, who may have to cut the number of their employees, and/or close down--are you seeing the domino effect here? And the only way I can see of getting out of the tumble down line is to have my food storage and emergency preparation items so that I can remain standing and perhaps help others to remain standing as well. If I am not totally reliant on a store for the basic necessities, it does not have to affect me as hard if said store goes down. Make no mistake, however--it will affect me in some way. The bells that are ringing out an emergency for those who have lost their jobs or have fewer hours should be a warning for us as well--to get as prepared as possible while we still can, so we will be in the best possible situation we can be in when the bells get closer. Because they probably will. And if they don't? We'll be better able to help someone else up.
It may seem that I'm awfully self-absorbed when I say that I don't like the fact that the stores closing limit my choices, but the way that I think about it is actually something that would affect everyone. When you have fewer and fewer choices, you could end up with a monopoly situation, where one supplier has all the power, and therefore the option to make the prices what they want them to be--which I would think off the top of my head would not be an ideal situation for the rest of us. There is something to be said for "price wars", where stores actually compete for business, and where people still have options. I'm not talking about missing rampant consumerism--just thinking about some basic components of human nature that appear when those who have power exploit situations in ways that reap the highest benefits for them. Hopefully, monopolies won't happen, and if they do, those in charge won't exhibit such unfortunate human tendencies. Either way, the fact that stores are closing should set off alarm bells even if we aren't immediately personally affected, and if nothing else, we can improve our preparedness situations so that we will be better off when we are personally affected. We may not be able to stop a store from closing, but we can stop procrastinating our preparation.
Recently, we went out to dinner with a gift certificate we received. We went to a fairly popular family restaurant that is usually (at least when we have gone) packed with people. I was amazed, given the night of the week that it was, and the time that we arrived, at the ratio of customers/employees. Suffice it to say, business traffic did not look optimal. Same good food, same good service, just fewer people to enjoy it. At the end of the meal, my husband asked what the deal was with the slow traffic, and the server started talking about the economy. When you consider how much hourly a server makes, (my understanding is that it is very little) and how much tips figure into their wages, people not being able to afford to eat out becomes one of those dominoes. Again, going back to those alarm bells--if you take the attitude that you aren't personally affected because you don't go out to eat, and people eat out too much anyway, you may be missing the point--when the alarm bells ring, and scream out the necessity to get some food in storage, they are not only ringing for those in the food service industry. They are not only ringing for those in the retail industry. They are ringing out, just like they did in that gymnasium, for everyone present. You may not see how it concerns you just now, but believe me, it concerns you, and it concerns me, and it concerns anyone else you can think of, because we are all in this together. If you/I/we are among the fortunate who aren't in the midst of a crisis right now, you/I/we need to heed the alarms and get ready. To those who are reading this and are already having a crisis, I truly hope that things get better for you soon.
The closing of stores is one alarm bell going off that I can think of. A few others may be the continual rise of food prices, the foreclosure on farms, the seemingly shrinking availability of non-hybrid seeds, the state of the economy in general--how many alarm bells do we need? There are probably some that I am missing, but hopefully there is an alarm bell that will ring for each of us before it is too late to prepare. We won't all be able to prepare on the same scale, because we all have different economic means, but each of us can do something, even if it is only to put aside a very tiny bit at a time. We need to do the best we can when we hear the alarms ringing, and not just ignore what is going on---what was/will be your call to action?
And a second question--is there anyone out there that would be interested in an Idaho preppers network? Like I have mentioned before, there are more qualified people around, so it won't hurt my feelings if someone wants to start one up themselves. However, if there is interest, I could set up a page. Let me know.
Friday, December 19, 2008
In the small world category...
Imagine my surprise when I looked over at Utah Preppers Website today and saw information from an e-mail the poster had received that was the same e-mail I had also received from my best source (Mom). I checked with my best source, and even though I know that I have mentioned this at least one other place on the internet, she doesn't care if everyone knows that she's from Utah, so the proverbial cat is out of the bag--my best source lives in Utah. Thing is, she belongs to a food storage group, and I get their e-mails through her. Then, when I see something that I need, she adds my order to hers, keeps it at her house until either we visit my parents or they visit us, and everyone wins. (OK, let's be honest, in this case, we, the out-of-staters, are clearly the winners in this scenario.) Since we only buy the really long-term storage items this way, our order can sit at their house indefinitely, hypothetically, but usually that's not the case, though sometimes it does take awhile. Keeping our unwieldy food storage at their house for extended periods of time...family's good that way. :)
The food storage group mentioned is a great resource for those who want to stock up on food storage--because they order in bulk, the prices are lower, and since so many people are ordering, there are more people in their area that are prepared in case of an emergency. What if you don't have family, as I do, that belongs to such a group, or don't live in Utah? Did you know that there are other state prepper's networks on the internet that could help you with emergency preparedness? The ones that I am aware of are:
The Texas Prepper's Network
The Kentucky Preppers Network
Some of the information may be general, and not specific to these particular geographical areas, and that information is helpful to everyone. Some of the information may be specifically helpful for residents of said states, and may help you and/or your family if you live there, and may be especially helpful if you think that you're alone in your emergency preparedness activities. You're not. And some of the information might not apply to you, or may include activities that you are not interested in--find the things that you are interested in, and use them to better your preparation and supplies. Not everyone eats/drinks the same things, but everyone eats and drinks, and you have to have supplies to do so if you have an emergency situation arise.
Do you live in Texas, Kentucky, or Utah? If not, perhaps you can start a network of your own for your state. I have considered (oh so verrrry briefly, and it was more of a fleeting thought, really) starting one for my state, but if you haven't read my disclaimer on not being an expert lately, look to the right....and down.... I really don't think that I am the best representative for my state, and I know there are other bloggers out there from my state. I do hope that eventually there will be more and more state blogs out there so that people in the same area can help and strengthen each other before and/or in case they have an emergency. One of the things that I love about the internet is that now I feel like I have friends from all over the country, and the world, who are also trying to get prepared for any situation that might happen, and I learn from reading their blogs and the information and techniques they are willing to share. Everybody wins.
After all, there is strength in numbers. United we stand.
The food storage group mentioned is a great resource for those who want to stock up on food storage--because they order in bulk, the prices are lower, and since so many people are ordering, there are more people in their area that are prepared in case of an emergency. What if you don't have family, as I do, that belongs to such a group, or don't live in Utah? Did you know that there are other state prepper's networks on the internet that could help you with emergency preparedness? The ones that I am aware of are:
The Texas Prepper's Network
The Kentucky Preppers Network
Some of the information may be general, and not specific to these particular geographical areas, and that information is helpful to everyone. Some of the information may be specifically helpful for residents of said states, and may help you and/or your family if you live there, and may be especially helpful if you think that you're alone in your emergency preparedness activities. You're not. And some of the information might not apply to you, or may include activities that you are not interested in--find the things that you are interested in, and use them to better your preparation and supplies. Not everyone eats/drinks the same things, but everyone eats and drinks, and you have to have supplies to do so if you have an emergency situation arise.
Do you live in Texas, Kentucky, or Utah? If not, perhaps you can start a network of your own for your state. I have considered (oh so verrrry briefly, and it was more of a fleeting thought, really) starting one for my state, but if you haven't read my disclaimer on not being an expert lately, look to the right....and down.... I really don't think that I am the best representative for my state, and I know there are other bloggers out there from my state. I do hope that eventually there will be more and more state blogs out there so that people in the same area can help and strengthen each other before and/or in case they have an emergency. One of the things that I love about the internet is that now I feel like I have friends from all over the country, and the world, who are also trying to get prepared for any situation that might happen, and I learn from reading their blogs and the information and techniques they are willing to share. Everybody wins.
After all, there is strength in numbers. United we stand.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
How's that water shut-off valve working for you? How about that other one?
If you had asked me this oh, say, day before yesterday, I wouldn't have thought about it--after all, I had at least had the forethought to ask my husband where it was and and how to turn it off in case I had to use it in an emergency. Yesterday, we needed to turn it off. Nothing happened.
For reasons that are unnecessary to my point, and also thankfully, not reasons that would be considered an emergency, we needed to have the water off for work in the kitchen. Thankfully, also, my husband was the one that made the discovery that the valve no longer wanted to be useful in any discernible way. When turning the valve failed to yield any results, efforts were made to reach people that might know how to resolve the problem, to no avail. I had company over at the time, and the suggestion was made that we might have to ask the city to turn it off. At that point of the day, city aid would not have been available. My husband went outside and tried to turn off the valve that led to city access. This secondary valve also offered no remedy to the situation. The water was still on. The work in the kitchen still needed to be completed. The clock was still ticking, and it reached that hour where the person here to do the work in the kitchen called it a day on our project. We were effectively stymied, and left with not an emergency, but a rather large and irritating problem in our kitchen, and an appointment to finish what should have been a quick procedure later today.
We literally did not know what to do next. I mean, who do you call, besides the city, to fix a problem of this nature? Fortunately, my husband has a relative who is really savvy when it comes to house maintenance, and is actually in the process of building his own house. And when I say building his own house, I mean literally. So my husband gave him a call. The two of them went downstairs, and after a few minutes the water stopped flowing. Apparently, the valve just hadn't been turned enough, and this relative told me something to the effect that there is an art to knowing just how far to turn a valve like that and knowing when to stop before you broke it, and having passed that point in the past, he knew where it was. I thanked him for sharing his expertise. One valve down.
They then went out to the outside valve in the front yard with--get this--a jackhammer. It was quite a show for the children, who gathered at the front window to watch as the valve was dealt with. It was quick--apparently the valve had not only been concreted over by a previous homeowner, but the cap rusted somewhat as well. Our relative is knowledgeable about how to deal with said cap so we won't have a repeat performance, and it will be dealt with. But now, thankfully, we have the two ways that we should have had in the first place to turn off our water. Hopefully we won't need them--but having them and not needing them sure beats the other way around.
We are very grateful for said family member who took time out to help us deal with our water valve situation--as my husband says, he saved the day. I doubt that he even knows I have a blog, much less that this particular blog is mine, but if he ever recognizes himself in the situation as he peruses the internet, I say thanks. One other positive that came out of this whole experience is that the person who came to do the work in the first place told us about a better, cheaper option for what we are doing, and he will be doing that today instead when he comes back. So, the positives far outweigh the negatives. I am very very very grateful that I/we were not running around trying to turn these valves off while our house was flooding for some reason. I am very grateful that I/we didn't turn it so far that it broke, causing even more problems. There is a lot to be grateful for.... and believe me, I am.
So I ask you again, how's that shut-off valve working for you? How about that other one? Do you know where they are? Do you know how they work? (I actually wouldn't have had a clue as to how to locate the outside one, but I'm wondering if jackhammer tracks would lead me to it this morning if I tried to find it... :) Please find out before you have an emergency, as we were so blessed to do. Just don't turn that valve too far....
For reasons that are unnecessary to my point, and also thankfully, not reasons that would be considered an emergency, we needed to have the water off for work in the kitchen. Thankfully, also, my husband was the one that made the discovery that the valve no longer wanted to be useful in any discernible way. When turning the valve failed to yield any results, efforts were made to reach people that might know how to resolve the problem, to no avail. I had company over at the time, and the suggestion was made that we might have to ask the city to turn it off. At that point of the day, city aid would not have been available. My husband went outside and tried to turn off the valve that led to city access. This secondary valve also offered no remedy to the situation. The water was still on. The work in the kitchen still needed to be completed. The clock was still ticking, and it reached that hour where the person here to do the work in the kitchen called it a day on our project. We were effectively stymied, and left with not an emergency, but a rather large and irritating problem in our kitchen, and an appointment to finish what should have been a quick procedure later today.
We literally did not know what to do next. I mean, who do you call, besides the city, to fix a problem of this nature? Fortunately, my husband has a relative who is really savvy when it comes to house maintenance, and is actually in the process of building his own house. And when I say building his own house, I mean literally. So my husband gave him a call. The two of them went downstairs, and after a few minutes the water stopped flowing. Apparently, the valve just hadn't been turned enough, and this relative told me something to the effect that there is an art to knowing just how far to turn a valve like that and knowing when to stop before you broke it, and having passed that point in the past, he knew where it was. I thanked him for sharing his expertise. One valve down.
They then went out to the outside valve in the front yard with--get this--a jackhammer. It was quite a show for the children, who gathered at the front window to watch as the valve was dealt with. It was quick--apparently the valve had not only been concreted over by a previous homeowner, but the cap rusted somewhat as well. Our relative is knowledgeable about how to deal with said cap so we won't have a repeat performance, and it will be dealt with. But now, thankfully, we have the two ways that we should have had in the first place to turn off our water. Hopefully we won't need them--but having them and not needing them sure beats the other way around.
We are very grateful for said family member who took time out to help us deal with our water valve situation--as my husband says, he saved the day. I doubt that he even knows I have a blog, much less that this particular blog is mine, but if he ever recognizes himself in the situation as he peruses the internet, I say thanks. One other positive that came out of this whole experience is that the person who came to do the work in the first place told us about a better, cheaper option for what we are doing, and he will be doing that today instead when he comes back. So, the positives far outweigh the negatives. I am very very very grateful that I/we were not running around trying to turn these valves off while our house was flooding for some reason. I am very grateful that I/we didn't turn it so far that it broke, causing even more problems. There is a lot to be grateful for.... and believe me, I am.
So I ask you again, how's that shut-off valve working for you? How about that other one? Do you know where they are? Do you know how they work? (I actually wouldn't have had a clue as to how to locate the outside one, but I'm wondering if jackhammer tracks would lead me to it this morning if I tried to find it... :) Please find out before you have an emergency, as we were so blessed to do. Just don't turn that valve too far....
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sometimes, it's all in the timing
Well, we couldn't have been more fortunate if we had tried to time it this way:
--A couple of days after we got our wood, it snowed, and then turned brutally cold. I realize that some people's definition of "brutally cold" may differ, but when that wind chill kicks in with considerable numbers below zero, I don't think anyone will hold my definition against me.
--Checked the paper yesterday to see if aspen wood gentleman was still advertising his wood, and his ad wasn't there. Just checked this morning's paper to make sure I wasn't making this all up, or was mistaken about which ad was his, and with extra information from my husband can confirm that his ad is not included in the classifieds. (Can you blame him, really? Who wants to cut/haul/sell wood in -0 degree temperatures?) I think there are 3 ads for pine wood and a mystery wood, (too lazy to check the paper again, sorry) but no aspen wood gentleman. Guess we got our order in just in time. Now that we're using that aspen wood, guess we'll see how long it lasts.... :)
We feel very blessed that it worked out for us this way. We also feel blessed that at this point we are not in the middle of an emergency of any nature, so that we can prepare.
Our wood purchase is one example of timing working out to our advantage. Timing isn't always connected to weather or forces outside of ourselves, though. We can use timing to our advantage, and I love this quote that I saw recently:
"Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time." –Theodore Roosevelt
What I take from this quote is that we look/are pretty smart if we do things "in time," which means to me while we still can, and before it's too late. I have a tendency to look at things in terms of preparation, (hey, I have a blog to write... :) and specifically in terms of emergency preparation. I gather information and read other blogs, but I also need to do what I can to prepare--just knowing I should/need to/ought to will not be enough--it's like being a grasshopper and watching the ants store up and thinking that it's a wonderful idea to try tomorrow. If it's a matter of truly not having time to learn new things because of multiple jobs/responsibilities/insert your situation here, or the finances are not there for emergency preparation activities/expenses/insert your emergency preparedness issue here, at this time, that is a different story entirely. However, if we have the time and means to do more for emergency preparation right now, it would probably be wise to do as much as we can before an emergency strikes. I'm nine-tenths certain that I do better with new recipes when I'm not under stress than I do in the middle of an emergency...and cooking new recipes is something that I find it quite easy to put off. That's an area I need to work on--I have gathered some recipes that I should try soon, rather than always putting it off until tomorrow.
What are some preparedness issues that are particular to your situation? Wood, obviously, is an issue for us, not only for the heating issue that we are facing at the moment, but for cooking if it became necessary. If you live in Florida or somewhere that it doesn't get extremely cold, your preparation activities could take a different direction entirely. One thing that we would all agree on, however, (taking the tiniest of leaps here) is that we will all need to eat, regardless of location. We are also not all in the same financial situation, so we have to be wise with our means--do what we can when we can without going into debt over it. Every little bit we can put aside helps, a bag or box or can at a time. We never know when an emergency of whatever nature is going to find its way to our door, so we need to be "wise in time" and get some/more in while we still can....
--A couple of days after we got our wood, it snowed, and then turned brutally cold. I realize that some people's definition of "brutally cold" may differ, but when that wind chill kicks in with considerable numbers below zero, I don't think anyone will hold my definition against me.
--Checked the paper yesterday to see if aspen wood gentleman was still advertising his wood, and his ad wasn't there. Just checked this morning's paper to make sure I wasn't making this all up, or was mistaken about which ad was his, and with extra information from my husband can confirm that his ad is not included in the classifieds. (Can you blame him, really? Who wants to cut/haul/sell wood in -0 degree temperatures?) I think there are 3 ads for pine wood and a mystery wood, (too lazy to check the paper again, sorry) but no aspen wood gentleman. Guess we got our order in just in time. Now that we're using that aspen wood, guess we'll see how long it lasts.... :)
We feel very blessed that it worked out for us this way. We also feel blessed that at this point we are not in the middle of an emergency of any nature, so that we can prepare.
Our wood purchase is one example of timing working out to our advantage. Timing isn't always connected to weather or forces outside of ourselves, though. We can use timing to our advantage, and I love this quote that I saw recently:
"Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time." –Theodore Roosevelt
What I take from this quote is that we look/are pretty smart if we do things "in time," which means to me while we still can, and before it's too late. I have a tendency to look at things in terms of preparation, (hey, I have a blog to write... :) and specifically in terms of emergency preparation. I gather information and read other blogs, but I also need to do what I can to prepare--just knowing I should/need to/ought to will not be enough--it's like being a grasshopper and watching the ants store up and thinking that it's a wonderful idea to try tomorrow. If it's a matter of truly not having time to learn new things because of multiple jobs/responsibilities/insert your situation here, or the finances are not there for emergency preparation activities/expenses/insert your emergency preparedness issue here, at this time, that is a different story entirely. However, if we have the time and means to do more for emergency preparation right now, it would probably be wise to do as much as we can before an emergency strikes. I'm nine-tenths certain that I do better with new recipes when I'm not under stress than I do in the middle of an emergency...and cooking new recipes is something that I find it quite easy to put off. That's an area I need to work on--I have gathered some recipes that I should try soon, rather than always putting it off until tomorrow.
What are some preparedness issues that are particular to your situation? Wood, obviously, is an issue for us, not only for the heating issue that we are facing at the moment, but for cooking if it became necessary. If you live in Florida or somewhere that it doesn't get extremely cold, your preparation activities could take a different direction entirely. One thing that we would all agree on, however, (taking the tiniest of leaps here) is that we will all need to eat, regardless of location. We are also not all in the same financial situation, so we have to be wise with our means--do what we can when we can without going into debt over it. Every little bit we can put aside helps, a bag or box or can at a time. We never know when an emergency of whatever nature is going to find its way to our door, so we need to be "wise in time" and get some/more in while we still can....
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